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Archive for the ‘Breakfast’ Category

Christmas Crepes

Posted in Breakfast, Christmas, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, Holidays, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on December 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »

On special occasions or the rare days when Captain Cavedweller and I can enjoy a leisurely breakfast, I like to make crepes. Our favorite filling is fresh fruit with whipped  cream. Captain Cavedweller loves bananas while I tend to favor berries.

I’ve had this recipe for crepes since I was in the seventh grade. Our teacher decided to give us all some culture and let each of us a select a country to study up on and do a presentation complete with props. While I got stuck with India (when you are next to the last to get to choose, there aren’t a lot of countries left!), one of the girls choose France. Her mother brought in a hot plate and helped her make crepes for the class. They were delightfully wonderful and so different from anything I’d eaten. When she passed out copies of the recipe, I immediately went home and  begged my mom to let me make them. She did and I’ve been making them sense. Although my dad always called these flat pancakes, Captain Cavedweller does enjoy them!

These are light and delicious – just right for a morning brunch before a big holiday meal!

 

Ingredients

 

Mix the ingredients until it is smooth and there are no visible lumps.

 

Cook in a hot pan, lightly oiled. It just takes a minute or so for each side.

 

You want each side to be a nice golden brown.

 

Fill with berries and whipped cream.

 

Cook in a hot pan, lightly oiled. It just takes a minute or so for each side.

Enjoy!

Crepes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon  sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Beat eggs until broken down. Add milk and vanilla extract and beat well. Beat in flour mixture until mixed then add in melted butter.

Lightly oil a hot griddle, frying pan or (if you have one) a crepe pan. Pour about two tablespoons of batter in the pan and thin it out by swirling the pan around. Tip and rotate until the batter is as thin as possible. Cook until each side is a light, golden brown.

Fill with fruit and whipped cream and roll. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar and enjoy!

Serves about 12.

She Who Loves Crepes!

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Chocolate French Toast

Posted in Breakfast, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged , , , on February 7, 2011| 4 Comments »

 

Chocolate French Toast

 

 

If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, this recipe for Chocolate French Toast will turn him into your slave for life.

Oh. My. Goodness.

If your sweetheart likes chocolate, you must, must, MUST make this for him. It was delicious – to put it mildly. And it was pretty simple to make, which makes it even better.

Think about making your Valentine a special breakfast and make sure you include this recipe as the focal point!

 

Ingredients

 

 

 

Cut crusts off bread

 

 

 

Mix egg, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt together and pour into a baking dish or bowl.

 

 

 

Put a piece of bread in and top with half a Hershey's bar.

 

 

Put another piece of bread on top and pour batter over to completely cover

 

 

Soak bread for a couple minutes then remove to warm skillet. I soaked my sandwiches one at a time and used a square bowl rather than a casserole pan.

 

 

Fry until golden brown on both sides

 

 

Remove from skillet, slice in half diagonally and dust with confectioner's sugar.

 

 

 

Chocolate French Toast

 

 

 

Chocolate French Toast
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
12 slices day-old bread, crusts removed
3 plain Hershey’s milk chocolate candy bars, halved
2 tbsp. butter
Confectioner’s sugar

In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Pour half of the mix into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch casserole dish. Arrange six slices of bread in a single layer over egg mixture. Place one piece of chocolate in the center of each piece of bread. Top with remaining bread and pour on the rest of the egg mixture. Let stand for about three minutes. (Note: If you do not have day old bread, toast it a bit to dry it out or cut down the time you let it stand in the egg mixture. You do not want the bread to get soggy because it will result in a mushy mess! Not that I would know these things first hand. But trust me on this one!).

In a large non-stick skillet or griddle, melt butter over medium heat. Fry sandwiches until golden brown on both sides. (If you do not have a skillet large enough to cook these all at once, soak them one at a time in the casserole dish so they do not absorb too much liquid.)

Remove from pan, cut in half diagonally and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Garnish with fruit if desired and watch your sweetheart savor the sweet goodness of chocolate french toast.

Happy Valentine’s Entertaining,

She who needs chocolate

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New Year’s Brunch

Posted in Breakfast, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, Party Theme, tagged , , , on December 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

If you and your friends aren’t into the stay up late party scene of New Year’s Eve but you would still like to entertain for the holiday, think about hosting a New Year’s Day brunch. Plan to start around 11 a.m., giving those night-owls plenty of time to get up and moving before your party starts.

Keep things simple and uncluttered (a great way to start the new year, huh?). Don’t go over board with decorations or food. You want to have things looking clean and elegant.

Have guest share a New Year’s memory or tell about a resolution they kept.  If you want to do something really fun, have everyone right down one goal or resolution, place them all in a sealed envelope and stash it away until next December. Pull them out when you do your Christmas cards and send to your friends. They will appreciate that you did keep the info and will probably get a chuckle over what they wrote down. Or host another New Year’s Brunch in 2012 with the same crowd and open the envelope there.

Tell guests the dress is relaxed and keep the atmosphere casual. Offer a buffet selection of sliced fruits and some make ahead or easy to prepare food.

Quiche is a great option. It is warm, delicious and easy to make. Try my bacon quiche or spinach mushroom.

 

Easy Pumpkin Bread

 

 

Quick breads are also a fabulous choice. They can be made ahead and are tasty plain or slathered with butter. You can make a variety of these (or cheat and pick up a three-pack at Costco!). Here are recipes for banana bread or pumpkin bread.

 

 

Ham and Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole

 

 

Breakfast casseroles are another great way to get something hot and comforting on the table with minimum effort. One of my favorites is this ham and hashbrown casserole.

 

 

Yummy and Beautiful!

 

 

Make sure you serve this Grenadine Sunrise as a beautiful start to a beautiful new year!

Happy New Year Entertaining!

Shanna

 

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Christmas Breakfast ideas

Posted in Breakfast, Christmas, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, Holidays, tagged , , , on December 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Christmas morning the last thing you want to do is be tied down to the kitchen making breakfast. Plan ahead now and you can have a fabulous breakfast on the table with a minimal amount of effort!

So here are a few ideas…

Quick Breads

You can purchase these pre-made at stores like Costco (their apple or pumpkin bread is sooooo good), you can buy packaged mixes that are easy to whip together or make them from scratch. If you are planning to make them either from a mix of scratch, make these now so you don’t have to mess with them in the morning. If you want to be Betty Baker and go from scratch, here is a recipe for yummy banana bread.

Sweet Rolls

You can purchase pre-made sweet rolls or cinnamon rolls or whip together a batch. Just pop in the oven for a few minutes to warm and you’ve got a breakfast that everyone will enjoy. Here is a recipe for super easy cinnamon rolls that make my mouth water just thinking about them.

Casseroles

A breakfast casserole you can assemble the night before then pop in the oven to bake the next morning is ideal. They are warm and filling and will hopefully carry your starving crew through gift opening and morning festivities. Serve with a fresh fruit and it is a wonderful meal.

My favorite breakfast casserole involves ham and hashbrowns. It is so easy to make and so tasty good. Assemble the night before, set out for about 30 minutes and then bake.

Here is another recipe that is quite filling. You can use any type of meat you like, just make sure it is pre-cooked.

Ingredients

Beat eggs, then add milk and combine.

Dice up some ham (or crumble cooked bacon or sausage).

Add ham, breadcrumbs and salt to mixture.

Blend in some cheese.

Pour into greased pan, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake the next morning!

and enjoy!

Breakfast Bake

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups diced cooked ham (or bacon or crumbled cooked sausage)

1 cup shredded colby jack cheese

3 cups croutons

Beat eggs and milk, add in remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Remove from fridge and let set for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes or until eggs are set.

Enjoy!

Happy Holiday Entertaining and Merry Christmas!

Shanna

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